The present invention relates to a hub suitable for use with medical devices which are to remain in a fixed position on a patient, and more particularly, concerns a hub suitable for use in a catheter placement unit in which the hub is sutured to the patient to anchor the same in place.
Catheter placement units are employed for a variety of purposes, including the administration of liquids into the blood stream, monitoring the central venous pressure and the like. Extended catheter tubes are embodied within such a catheter placement unit so that the tube may be positioned far into a remote position within the patient. Once the tip of the catheter tube reaches the appropriate location within the body, for example at the right atrium of the heart, it is desirable to fix the placement unit in place so that it can no longer move. In many well-known catheter placement units, a piece of thin shrinkable tubing is located around the outside surface of the placement unit hub. One technique for fixing the placement unit in position after the catheter tube is properly located has been to pass a needle and suture through the skin of the patient and then through the piece of shrinkable tubing around the hub. While such a technique serves the function intended, the stability of the sutured shrinkable tubing is oftentimes less than desirable. For instance, the shrinkable tubing itself may loosen thereby allowing some relative movement between the shrinkable tubing and the hub. Furthermore, the addition of a piece of shrinkable tubing around the hub is an extra manufacturing operation which not only adds time and expense to the operation, but also includes an extra structural element which must be inspected for quality assurance purposes. Accordingly, improvements in fixing medical devices such as catheter placement units in position on a patient are still being sought, and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.